South Viet Nam: The Light That Failed

In the Hour of the Tiger just before
dawn, when Buddhist monks and nuns rise from their pallets to make
their first obeisance, a portly, 55-year-old nun named Thich Nu Thanh
Quang appeared in front of the Dieu De Pagoda in South Viet Nam's
ancient capital of Hue. Removing her wooden-soled sandals, she sat
down on the cement. While a Buddhist photographer took pictures, fellow
Buddhists reverently emptied the contents of an American five-gallon
jerrican of gasoline over her. She struck a safety match, and flames
roared 20 feet into the air, until only her two out stretched...